Busheling furnace



Nov. 6 1923. 1 1,472,803

J. M GAFF BUSHELING FURNACE Filed March 31, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Villain/b00114 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. MCGAFF BUSHELING FURNACE Filed March Nov. 6, 1923.

Fatented Nov 6. 1323.

JOHN IEOGAFIE", OF CHICAGO, TLLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO INTERSTATE IRON AND STEEL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BUSHELING FURNACE.

Application filed. March 31, 192 1. Serial No. 457,259.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MoGArr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of 6 Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Busheling Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to furnaces for.

busheling scrap metal, and consists in the 10 matters hereinafter described and then pointed out in the appended claims.

The purpose of my invention is to provide an improved oscillating chamber in which the heat-softened charge of scrap is hammered or compressed into welded condition by being bodily dropped from end to end of the chamber, thereby hammering and consolidating the particles and welding them into a dense and compact ball or bloom.

The principal object is to provide the hearth with which the metal under treatment contacts in the operation of the chamber with improved means to retain a lining or bed of metallic oxides or slag which while preventing the burning or melting of the plates also furnishes a clean and homogeneous working surface containing no substances harmful to the metal, so that the resulting ball or bloom is uniform and homogeneous. so A further object is to provide improved means for mounting the oscillating chamber, and other advantages will appear from the disclosure. a

In the accompanying drawings showing an embodiment of the several features of my invention, Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of thefurnace showing one end of the chamber with the fire-box and stack-flue on opposite sides;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the hearth of the chamber with the upper portions of the ends broken away;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the bottom with its lining omitted on the line 5-5 of 50 Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of an end-gate, and

oblong Fig. is a view of the inside faceof the;

a bottom at, all being of cast iron andrectrough composed of opposite side plates "1, opposite end-plates 2, a top plate3, and

tangular in outline. The top and sides and i bottom are united at their meeting'edges bolted together, and all extend parallel with the longitudinal or major axis of the cham- 160 by having their external flanges riveted or her to form an elongated or rectangular" chamber, preferably seven oreight feet in length and about three. feet in width and about three and one-half feet in height in practice. The end-plates are similarly bolted or'riveted in place and preferably are of suitable size and shape to close only part of the ends of the chamber to leave an arched opening at the lower portion of:

each end. 'A sliding'gate or door 5 closes I each ofithe openings when the furnace is in operation, being movably mounted in guides or keepers 6 and having a peep-hole 7 near the upper end if desired. While one of the end-plates may entirely close or cover its opening, I prefer to employ an opening at each end of the chamber so that one may be used for charging it with a fresh batch of material when the other is used to discharge the welded bloom or ball. 7 The end doors or gates are concave on their inner surfaces.

to center the mass of. metal in the median line of the chamber as'it moves back and forth from end to end thereofQthe end walls side of the welding chamber, and the other for the exit of the gases and other products of combustion to the fine or stack at its other side.

The chamber is turned on its transverse or minor axis as the center of movement, so that its ends alternately rise and fall. It is preferably oscillated, and for this purpose is carried in a cradle composed of two segmental rockers 11, arranged on its opposite sides and connected to it by any suitable means, such as the supporting spokes "12 and arms 13. I flanged supporting rollers 14: which are arranged in the arc of a circle corresponding 10 located The rockers travel upon to the curvature ofrthe rockers and are j V illustrative example the driving pinion 17 engages a toothed sector or rack 18 carried by one of the rockers. By supporting the chamber in a cradle I do away with trunnions or bearing at the central openings 8, and so am able to make these opposite openings of greatly increased size, in area about one-third of the sides, to increase the volume of the flame or heat passing through the chamber and also the amount of the working surface of the chamber directly exposed to it.

The top and sides of the chamber and the upper portions of the ends where the parts are subjected only to heat are lined with refractory brick 19. The hearth. formed by the bottom. and the lower parts of the ends with which the metal under treatment contacts as it travels back and forth by gravity from, end to end of the chamber when it is oscillated or rocked, is provided with means to retain a bed or lining of slag or oxides to form the working surface for the metal. For this purpose I cast the bottom with a series of dove-tailed or undercut recesses or pockets 20 extending transversely of the trough and path of travel of the charge therein. In practice a quantity of cinder pig is charged onto the bottom to fill the pockets and form a bed of about two inches in thickness upon the bottom, and it is then melted to form a solid lining of slag 21 which is superposed on the bottom and interlocked with it by its keys 22 lying in the cross-pockets as shown in Fig. 4:. By this construction the bottom plate itself forms the box or support on which the cinder is charged and held while being melted to form the lining, and after the slag cools it forms a lining that is interlocked with the bottom transversely to the line of travel of the metal and so braced and strengthened across or against its thrusts or blows. In practice I prefer'to make the bottom 4 in sections as shown in Figs. 4: and 5, to reduce theliability of warping and so that if any part becomes warped'or worn it may be readily removed and replaced without disturbing other parts, and in such cases the sections are provided with overlapping joints 23 at their meeting edge The lower port-ion of the inner faces of the doors upon which the metal hammers and beats as it reaches each end of its drop cast with flanges 2st and 25 to form retaining pockets to similarly hold an oxide or slag linin 26 to prevent the metal under treatment from coming into contact with the cast-metal of the doors. These pockets are formed by casting them into the inner faces whenthe doors are made, and as the stress or impact of the metal is substantially in line with them they may be of any suitable shape and contour, such for example as the plain ones shown. In practice they need extend able them to better resist the impact or blows of the metai upon them when the chamber is in operation.

The slag bed or lining prevents the burn 'ing or melting of the hearthand affords a clean and homogeneous working surface for the metal to travel over and strike so that no impurities get into the mass to prevent a perfect weld. By this means I obviate the objection arising from the use of magnesite brick or similar refractory materials heretofore employed for lining the working surface and in which the particles of such foreign and neutral materials scraped off by the abrading action of the charge mixed with the metal and acted as an impurity to prevent it from welding either in the scrap furnace itself or in the subsequent squeezing treat, ment. By the present invention there is nothing in the working surface to harm the metal or prevent. it from welding, and so it will form refined and homogeneous bloom or ball. Also, by arranging the grooves in imperforate bottom this part itself acts as the box for the molten cinder in the prepara. tion of the slag-lining, and thenas a base to which the hardened lining is keyed and m terlocked across or transverse to the path 7 of travel of the moving mass of metal to offer effective resistance to its strains and stress.

In operation, after the hearth is lined the chamber suitably pro-heated is charged with a mass of scrap iron or steel and after being closed is oscillated by the power mechanism so that its ends alternately rise and fall,- heat passing into it to bring the charge to weld ing temperature. The oscillation of the oblong chamber toan angle of etOto 50 degrees causes the charge to pass back and forth from end to end of the hearth a distance of seven or eight feet. and at the rise of each end the charge is bodily displaced therefrom and drops by gravity the length of the chamber against the opposite end, and being entirely displaced from one endbefore striking dated and compressed by its repeated blows against the ends so that the mass is welded into a ball or bloom of compact iron or steel as the case may be. The heated scrap is hammered and beaten into intimate and permanent union by its impacts or blows on the ends of the chamber, and after the welding is completed the chamber may be tilted down at one end and the door opened to discharge it, while it may receive another charge at the same time through the opposite door without altering its position with respect to the co-acting parts of the furnace. As the Welding is accomplished in the chamber the ball or bloom is ready for use when discharged, any additional and separate step of passing it through the. squeezers being merely to shape it for the first pass in the rolls.

I claim:

1. busheling furnace comprising an oblong trough-shaped chamber having a flat bottom extending in the direction of its major axis and consisting of an imperforate plate having cross-pockets, the sides having opposite openings communicating respectively with a source of heat and a flue, and means to oscillate the chamber to alternately raise and lower its ends.

2. A busheling furnace comprising an oblong trough-shaped chamber having a hearth consisting of an imperforate bottom and end walls, the bottom having undercut transverse slag-pockets and the ends having slagpockets at their lower portions, means connecting the chamber. with a source of heat and a flue, and means to oscillate the chamber to alternately raise and lower its ends.

3. A busheling furnace comprising an oblong chamber having longitudinal sides, a flat bottom and angular ends, the bottom having slag-pockets extending transversely to the line of travel of the metal, the sides having opposite openings communicating respectively with a source of heat and a flue, the heat-opening extending near to the chamber bottom, and means to oscillate the chamber on its minor axis.

4. A busheling furnace comprising an 0blong chamber having longitudinal sides, a flat hearth and angular ends, gates at the ends, the hearth having slag-pockets extending transversely to the line of travel of the metal thereon and the gates having slagpo'ckets disposed at their lower portions, the sides having opposite openings communicating respectively with a source of heat and a flue, and means to oscillate the chamber on its minor axis to cause the metal to dro by gravity the length of the hearth alternately from one end gate to the other.

5. A busheling furnace comprising an oblong chamber havinglongitudinal sides, a flat hearth and angular ends having openclosing the openings in the ends, the hearth having slag-pockets extending transversely t0 the line of travel of the metal thereon and the gates having slag-pockets disposed at their lower portions, the sides having opposite openings communicating respectively with a source of heat and a flue, and means to oscillate the chamber on its minor axis to cause the metal to drop by gravity the length of the hearth alternately from one end gate to the other.

JOHN MoGAFF.

ings at their lower portions, concave gates 

